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Solarian League Navy
The Solarian League Navy was the main spacefaring military force for the Solarian League. Ships of the SLN used the prefix SLNS. Its uniforms were white. ( ) History * 1410 PD – Commonly referred to as the 'Eridani Edict', Amendment 97 to the Solarian League Constitution was adopted. It was unilaterally enforced by the SLN five times.It is uncertain, if the war at the beginning of the 17th Century PD and the war against the Farley's Crossing System were connected with the enforcement of the Edict. ( , infodump) * circa 1600-1620 PD: ** The last war before 1921 PD took place, Battle Fleet was involved.300 years before the First Manticoran-Havenite War some war was waged on a much smaller stage than the Havenite wars ( , infodump) ** The last time before 1921 PD a Solarian warship was destroyed in combat.in almost three centuries before the New Tuscany Incident ( ) * after 1700 PD'According to HH7, approximately a little less than two centuries ago before beginning of the 20th Century PD; according to SI2, none of Battle Fleet's capital ships had fired a shot in anger in over two T-centuries; according to ''The Universe of Honor Harrington, the last major war before 1901 PD occured before 1759 PD. – The Solarian League fought a battle in the Farley's Crossing System, mainly with Frontier Fleet units. ( , infodump) * '''1831 PD – The last time before 1921 PD the Battle Fleet deployed anything larger than a squadron outside the borders of the Old Leagueit was also the first Battle Fleet deployment to the Verge in more than division strength in the better part of a century (HH12). (HH12, infodump) * 1862 PD – Captain Josef Byng was officially reprimanded and moved back on promotion lists as a result of harassment of Manticoran shipping and imprisonment of Manticoran crews without trial. ( ) * before circa 1868 PD – The last time before 1918 PD a Solarian heavy cruiser was defeated in open combat.probably a non-SLN unit; nobody ever beat four Solarian heavy cruisers at once, with a single vessel of any kind short of a dreadnought. ( ) * before 1880 PD – Laser head missiles were implemented in the SLNDeveloped 1860/70 PD. (SI2). In 1880 PD that technology was sold to Haven in order to test it in a combat environment. ( ) * since 1890 PD – Battle Fleet had conducted only three exercises which deployed more than fifty ships of the wall as far out as the Shell. ( ) * before 1918 PD – Frontier Fleet units pacified the Boniface rebellion; Commander Luis Rozsak was awarded with promotion out of turn. ( ) * 1921 PD: ** October – The Frontier Fleet's Maya Sector Detachment defeated the People's Navy in Exile in the Battle of Torch, after the PNE tried to destroy the Kingdom of Torch. ( ) ** October, 25th – Admiral Joseph Byng, in charge of Task Group 3021, ordered the destruction of three Manticoran destroyers in the New Tuscany System, causing a chain of events later called the New Tuscany Incident. ( ) ** November, 17th – In the Second Battle of New Tuscany, Task Group 3021 was disabled by the Manticoran Tenth Fleet. ( ) * 1922 PD: ** February – In the Battle of Spindle, Battle Fleet Task Force 496 illegaly incursed into the Star Empire of Manticore's space and was decisively defeated by Admiral Gold Peak's Tenth Fleet. ( ) ** April – A force of hundreds of ships of the wall under the command of Fleet Admiral Massimo Filareta was dispatched to Manticore to battle the Star Empire into submission. ( ) Organization The Solarian League Navy was organized into two major branches: Battle Fleet (more prestigious, larger, better equipped), and Frontier Fleet (tasked with support of the Office of Frontier Security). (SI1, SI2, infodump) Command The commanding officer was the Chief of Naval Operations, who was in essence the main military administrator under the Minister of Defense. Central Staff departments supporting the CNO were: * Office of Strategy and Planning - CO Fleet Admiral Evangeline Bernard (HH12) * Office of Naval Intelligence - CO Admiral Karl-Heinz Thimár (SI2) ** Office of Operational Analysis - CO Admiral Hai-shwun Cheng (SI2) * Office of Ship Design * Office of Procurement Some senior officers constituted the Strategy Board, the body that issued strategy recommendations for the CNO. ( , , , ) Battle Fleet The Battle Fleet was, like most navies, composed of many types of ships from ships of the wall, to fast couriers, to a logistic train (repair, provisioning, ammunition, etc). They included a very large number of superdreadnoughts, dreadnoughts, and screening elements (battlecruisers, cruisers, destroyers, etc). Battle Fleet was the SLN's senior branch, so its commanding officers were entitled to precedence over those of the Frontier Fleet. This led to Battle Fleet having a deep contempt for Frontier Fleet and the Office of Frontier Security.As such, Battle Fleet rarely consulted with Frontier Fleet of its operations. Until 1921 PD, it had been over 90 T-years since Battle Fleet had deployed anything larger than a squadron outside the borders of the Old League.In 1921 PD, Fleet Admiral Sandra Crandall ran a training exercise in the McIntosh System (in the Talbott Cluster) for Battle Fleet, including a substantial logistic component from the Fleet Train, with over a hundred ships. ( ) Frontier Fleet The Frontier Fleet, on the whole, emphasized lighter units more suited to the 'policing' actions which were its primary responsibility, along with piracy suppression and support of the Solarian Gendarmerieas well as other bureaucratic institutions operating along the fringes of the League (infodump). The SLN had a higher percentage of light units than the RMN or the People's Navy, largely because of the preponderance of such units in the Frontier Fleet. Reserve The Solarian League Navy maintained a very large mothball fleet as a reserve. The proportion of superdreadnoughts and dreadnoughts in that reserve was larger than that of the SLN on active service, and the smaller classes in reserve would have been insufficient to provide an adequate screen for the ships of the wall in the reserve, should all be activated at the same time. The planning expectation seems to have been that the excess of lighter units in Frontier Fleet would be used (despite mutual dislike and even hostility) as screen for the Battle Fleet wall. As of 1921 PD, the majority of the ships of the wall in the SLN's reserve were significantly outdated to the point that two thirds of them continued to retain autocannon point defenses rather than the standard laser clusters widely in use everywhere else. (HH12) Self Defence Forces The League's constitution specifically permits member systems of the League to build system-defense forces (which could also contain at least a small core of ships of the wall). The Self Defence Forces of the Solarian League members technically were part of the SLN during war or state of emergency. The SDFs provided the bulk of the light forces required to prevent outbreaks of piracy in their own areas, and could be tasked by the SLN as the senior servicewith the "owning" government concurrence to extend their activities to neighbouring member systems without SDFs. Some SDFs were substantial, being as big as the RMN before king Roger III's development program. Mentioned SDFs: * Mannerheim System-Defense Force * Beowulf System-Defense Force (HH12, SI2, infodump) Tactical organization Depending ultimately on size and subunit compostition, units of the Solarian League Navy would typically be commanded as follows: * Battle Fleet Task Forces were commanded by Fleet Admirals * Battle Fleet Battle Squadrons were commanded by Admirals * Frontier Fleet Battlecruiser Squadrons were commanded by Rear Admirals Recorded independent units: * Battle Fleet Task Force 496 * Battle Fleet Task Force 891 * Frontier Fleet Task Group 3021 * Madras Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet * Maya Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet Strength Before de facto war against the Star Empire of Manticore begun in 1921 PD, the SLN was comprised of: * 2000 operable superdreadnoughts in full commission * 300 superdreadnoughts in full commission, dumped to the yards for regular overhaul and refit cycles - 13% of all superdreadnoughts in full commission * over 8000 superdreadnoughts in reserve * uncertain, but significantly smaller number of dreadnoughts * probably more than 9000 lighter vesselsAccording to infodump the SLN had a higher percentage of light units than the RMN (81% in 1904 PD), which makes strange number 36 vessels per one protectorate world Duties The primary security duty of the SLN, at the beginning of twentieth century PD, were commerce protection, border security, piracy suppression, and colonial pacification. In the twenty century PD, nearly all of those tasks were very likely performed by lighter units of the Frontier Fleet, there being very few pirates inside the Old League boundaries where Battle Fleet operated, and there being no colonies there either. (WS1, SI1, SI2, infodump) :See also: the Office of Frontier Security Policies * The SLN had no equivalent of the RMN's policy of switching out senior officers to make sure their experience remains current. The senior officers of the SLN were almost all well over a century old, with habits of thought and views of what makes an effective military ship/fleet that were formed when they were in their thirties and forties (and which were formed in the institutional bosom of a fleet which hasn't been to war in centuries). (infodump) * All SLN Battle Fleet procurement decisions were made through the demands of three hundred years old doctrine, not the possibilities offered by new tech which had not yet been fitted into existing doctrineeg. the SLN didn't used as strong and long range missiles like ones at missile pods provided Monican Navy by Technodyne (SI2). (infodump) Fleet 2000 programme The Fleet 2000 programme was an initiative to modernize SLN hardware; it also had a very important public relations and appropriations purpose. The program was conceived by Battle Fleet (and later found support with Frontier Fleet) in response to the Haven-Manticore wars, which suggested that advances in naval hardware were being made outside the Solarian League. Fleet 2000 was essentially a PR campaign to ensure the public would demand more funding for the Navy, which, as always, was competing with other bureaucracies to increase its share of available funds. Normally, Frontier Fleet units, some of which were much more likely to actually see action, were more carefully refitted than were ships of the wall and battlecruisers assigned to the Central Reserve or to Battle Fleet. Nevertheless, Frontier Fleet, afraid all the new funding would go to Battle FleetWith films such as "Our Fighting Navy" and "The Men and Women of the Fleet", Battle Fleet was heavily involved in a PR campaign. frontier Fleet fired back with its own "On the Frontiers of Freedom" and "First to Respond" On the other hand, the Battle Fleet ships of the wall had been more recently updated by the Fleet 2000 programme than the Frontier Fleet's battlecruisersLikley, even the Nevada-class. In reality, the majority of the Fleet 2000 changes were purely cosmetic, making new bridge designs look like something out of an HD flick.The newer consoles were a non-trivial, but not extensive, improvement, providing more information and control than before. Fleet 2000 refits were also intended to accommodate "future" enhancements, and so were built on an improved modular conceptEg., the ''Nevada''-class battlecruisers. (SI1, SI2, infodump) Marines The Solarian Marines Corps served aboard Frontier Fleet and Battle Fleet ships, and recruitment for both the SLN and the SMC was done by SLN recruiting officersFor example, a battalion of the 887th Solarian Marines Regiment was assigned to the Maya Sector Detachment of Frontier Fleet (WS1).. Human resources * centenial and older admirals with more experience in political infighting than fleet combat, let alone modern fleet combat * formal separation and informal competition between the Battle Fleet and the Frontier Fleet personnel Problems * corrupted procurement * cronyism - First Families of Battle Fleet Solarian built platforms in other navies Solarian platforms served in other navies also, eg. ships of wall and cruisers in the Erewhon Navy, light cruisers in the People's Navy, battlecruisers and probably other types in the Monican Navy as well as very likely in the Mesan Space NavyLight ships of which appeared in the Verdant Vista System (WS1). The usual Solarian League policy was to provide a downgraded 'export level' hardware fittment in ships supplied to other navies, thus retaining a level of higher performance against any such ships which might come up against the SLN in future. External links * David Weber's comments on infodump * [http://stormfromtheshadows.com/art.htm Nevada-class battlecruiser scheme] References Category:Solarian League Category:Solarian League Navy Category:Military